Watch Art Cashin: Why the stock market keeps rising

UBS's Art Cashin tells CNBC's Bob Pisani that comments made by hedge fund guru David Tepper that he is no longer "nervous" about the markets helped propel stocks higher and validated the ECB's interest rate decision.

As stocks continued their record run Friday, veteran trader Art Cashin credited closely watched hedge fund manager David Tepper with giving stocks a much-needed boost after the European Central Bank issued unprecedented monetary policy measures on Thursday.

"It's been a good couple of days," said Cashin, UBS' director of floor operations at the NYSE, on Friday. "You have to give credit to the fact that Mr. Tepper tapered his trepidation, and that kind of got things moving along. He had markets a little anxious a couple of weeks ago at the SALT conference."

Speaking to CNBC at midday, Cashin said a string of big shorts in CBOE VIX futures suggest hedge funds are betting against volatility. That means they think stocks will keep trading in a narrow range, he added.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average continued their run into record territory on Friday. At 1,948 points by just after 1 p.m., the S&P can "taste 1,950 points," Cashin said.